Apple Bank

The Apple Bank for Savings provides private and commercial banking services to the greater New York City area. It was the 4th largest New York-based bank and had 50 branches in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx, as well as Westchester, Suffolk and Nassau counties, before the bankruptcy in January 2010.

The bank offers a standard set of services: savings, checking, money market, investment accounts, student loans, mortgages, and lines of credit. It also offers high-yield internet savings accounts under the Grand Yield Direct brand.

History

Apple Bank began its life in 1863 as the Haarlem Savings Bank. It was established by a group of local merchants as a community-based mutual savings bank - a bank that is owned by its depositors. Harlem at the time was a suburban village (it was not part of NYC until 1873) and the bank's first location - a storefront on 3rd Avenue between 125th and 126th streets - was surrounded by farms and undeveloped lots. Six years later, the bank moved to a building of its own construction on 3rd Ave. and 124th St.

Business grew steadily and the bank had over five thousand depositors by 1876. By 1908, the number grew to over thirty two thousand as Harlem experienced an influx of Jewish and Italian immigrants. At the same time, the bank engaged in construction financing as the area underwent a real-estate boom. The bank continued to do well as the demographics of Harlem changed. By the end of the 1920s, Harlem Savings was the 22nd largest mutual savings bank in the United States. The bank survived the Great Depression without incident. In fact, its strong financial position allowed it to purchase the Commonwealth Savings Bank in 1932. The acquisition provided the bank with two branches in the Washington Heights neighborhood: on 157th Street and 180th Street, expanding coverage north. In 1933, the bank dropped the second 'a' from its name to match the now-standard spelling of the neighborhood's name.

In the 40s, the bank had several branches in northern Manhattan and one on East 42nd Street. After the end of World War II, the middle class began to move into the suburbs and the bank followed suit, opening a branch in Manhasset, New York, on Long Island in 1966, and moving its headquarters from Harlem to 42nd street two years later.

Uptown Central Savings Bank, built 1926-28 (York and Sawyer, architects

Absorbing the Central Savings Bank

The early 1980s proved to be a difficult time for financial institutions, but Harlem Savings fared better than most. In 1981 it used a $160 million grant from the FDIC to purchase the troubled Central Savings Bank. Created as the German Savings Bank (it was renamed Central Savings Bank during World War I) in 1858, the bank counted Daniel F. Tiemann, then Mayor of New York as a charter member and operated out of the Cooper Union building before moving to a location at 14th Street and 4th Avenue in 1864. The acquisition gave Haarlem Savings an additional seven branches including the now-historical Apple Bank Building (formerly Central's uptown branch) between 73rd and 74th Streets on Broadway and two branches in Nassau County on Long Island.

Suburban expansion and name change

In the '70s and early '80s, the bank's expansion into the suburbs was hindered by its name as it evoked images of "drugs, crime, and general deterioration". When the bank was building a branch in Massapequa, Long Island, in 1978, the plate-glass windows had to be replaced seven times after they were shattered by bricks. Despite some investment in the Harlem name, Jerome McDougal - chairman and CEO of the bank at the time - decided that a change was needed if the bank was to survive and expand. The Apple name and logo was created by a small consulting firm, Selame Design, in 1983. Despite some feeling that the name was undignified for a financial institution, McDougal pushed it through. Within the first month of the name change, Apple Bank gained 4,943 new accounts - three times the normal rate - and $116 million in deposits, compared to a loss of $26 million during the corresponding period in 1982.

On the last day of 1986, Apple acquired the Eastern Savings Bank (established as the Bronx Savings Bank in 1905), thus obtaining three branches in the Bronx, two in Westchester, and two on Long Island. Apple now ranked 17th among the New York metropolitan area's thrift institutions, with assets of $2.7 billion.

Another acquisition came in 1989, with the purchase of Sag Harbor Savings Bank - chartered in 1860 in Sag Harbor, New York, to provide financial services for the whaling industry - for $29.5 million, bringing in five additional branches serving Suffolk County.

In the late 1990s, Apple Bank began an aggressive expansion into Brooklyn, opening 13 branches in that borough since 1997.

Ownership

In 1985, Apple converted from a mutual savings bank to a stock-issuing public institution, selling 4.6 million shares for a total of $53.5 million. In 1990, a prominent real estate developer and investor Stanley Stahl became the sole stockholder of the bank when he paid about $170 million. In August 1999, Stahl died and the bank is controlled by his estate.

Financials

• The bank had after-tax income of $69.5 million in 2006.
• The bank's deposits exceeded $6 billion in 2006.

Trivia

• Central Bank's 1928 Uptown Branch designed by the architectural firm York and Sawyer in Renaissance Palazzo style is now a designated historic landmark. 2112 Broadway, located between 73rd and 74th streets is known as The Apple Bank Building.

• Stanley Stahl was the owner of the Chanin Building, located across 42nd street from Grand Central. Apple Bank has a branch in the building.

• Stahl was the developer of the 51-story building at 277 Park Ave., where Apple Bank has its offices.

External links

• Official Site
• A Map of Greenwich Village produced by the Central Savings Bank and showing its location
• Opening Day at a Bronx Savings Bank branch